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Sunday, December 30, 2012

This amazing debut novel makes the reader feel what seventeen-year-old Matt feels. His beloved older brother has died in Iraq. His abusive father bullies him and is forcing him to follow his militaristic dreams not letting Matt be who he wants to be. Matt has major anger issues that drive him to attack another student. The small package of T.J.'s personal effects disappeared shortly after the funeral so when T.J.'s footlockers arrive at the house, Matt wants to go through them before his dad can spirit them away as he did with the photos everything else that confirm the one time existence of T.J. What he finds starts him on an unforgettable journey. I loved this because I never knew exactly where it was going, it surprised me at every turn. I loved that Kokie was able to make me empathize with a character I could of easily dismissed had I met him in real life.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Very different from Brightly Woven this is set in a brutal dystopian future when a disease decimates the population of pubescent kids. The few who survive have psi (paranormal) powers. Ruby discovers her horrible power when she realized that when she went into their room on the morning of her 10th birthday and bestowed kisses on her parent, she erased her entire presence in their memories. Taken away to one of the camps to house the children who did not die of the disease, her life is grim until she is taken away and finds other kids who have escaped. Lots of action and adventure in the second half of the book turns it into a real page turner that makes the reader anxious to read the next book in the series

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About Me

Diana Tixier Herald, winner of Novelist's 2014 Margaret E. Monroe Award, has been posting book recommendations to the web since 1996. She is the author of several editions of Genreflecting, Teen Genreflecting, Fluent in Fantasy, and Strictly Science Fiction. She is the series editor of the Libraries Unlimited (ABC-CLIO) bestselling Genreflecting series.

Disclaimer

Many of the books I review on this site have been sent to me by publishers, authors, or publicists. I do not receive compensation for the reviews. I only review books I like and can recommend to other readers because I will not waste time reading or reviewing books I do not like. I do not keep review copies after I am done with them. They are passed on to teen reviewers or donated to schools and other non-profit organizations.